Thirty-three-year-old gay farmer Vladimir Wozniak IV lives for his crops and the hard work that makes them profitable every year. Five miles up the road, former rodeo bull rider and rancher Thomas Sullivan is just as committed to his corn-fed beef. Once best friends until VJ kissed Tommy during freshman year in college, they stopped speaking when Tommy rejected VJ. Ten years later, after the country doctor who helped bring them into the world dies and his will names them as co-owners of property, they decide to check out their inheritance together to see which one wants to buy out the other. As they travel down memory lane through the Doc’s correspondence and visit familiar sites on the land, can they work their way back to friendship ... and possibly beyond?

The Thaw

“Did you think about dating anyone else?” I asked. I hadn’t really thought about him being so alone while we were growing up. He and I were together quite a bit, and when we did things as a group, he was always there and hung out like any other kid. “Weren’t you lonely when the rest of us started pairing up?”


He shrugged. “Not really. I had you.” 7


I had to clamp my mouth shut tight. Darn. There I went again, making it sound like our past friendship was more than it was.


I put Doc’s bill down on the pile with the others, all with notations on them. The stack was pitifully thin. The Doc had kept the pieces of paper, but I hadn’t seen a logbook or any other kind of ledger covering his business or his personal finances. Not even a roster of patients. Just this haphazard collection of old bills stuck in pigeonholes.


Chapter 18